Kunming Stone Forest Travel Guide

Stone Forest located in Shilin Yi Autonomous County, 78 kilometers away from Kunming and takes bout 3hours from Kunming to Stone Forest. It's "One of Earth's Natural Wonders" and has long been one of the most famous scenic spots in China (at least since the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 A.D.), covering a few hundred square kilometers, stone peaks rise abruptly from the ground in numerous layers like bamboo shoots, forests and pagodas.

According to the record, Stone Forest began to take shape in some 280,000,000 years ago. The forest was formed by continuous natural and geological upheavals: firstly, because of the erosion of limestone in the sea, resulting in countless stone channels and columns; and later, due to the rising of the Earth's crust, the area became a land-mass. As the result of the natural activity process, the stones themselves were fashioned. All of these factors have made the stones a truly amazing and startling sight. When watched from a distance, the stone columns seem to form an impenetrable black forest-hence the name-"Stone Forest".

The main scenic area in the stone forest is the Jin Stone Forest; it is an area of 12 square kilometers. It contains the stone forest lake, big stone forest, small stone forest, and plum stone forest. Visit around the stone forests, you can on foot or hire a sightseeing car, because this area cover about 5 kilometers. This part is the biggest and most beautiful place in the scenic area. Walking through the Stone Forest, you can still find traces of the Neolithic Age. On the cliffs and peaks we find ancient frescos painted using a mixture of animal blood and minerals. Except the natural sightseeing, you can also experience some local people's traditional festivals such as Yi people's Torch Festival. During the day time of the Torch Festival, people wrestling, pole climbing, bullfight; while in the evening, they light the needfire, dancing, playing Chinese dragon plays, lion dancing and other Yunnan folk singing & dancing performances.

The Stone Forest is a magnificent natural treasure gallery, which lets visitors to imagine, to discover and to enjoy the time freely. Wandering roads with silence, walking in the stone forest is like in a fantastic heaven that all forget about leaving.